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Washington College Shrugs Aside F&M

from press release

CHESTERTOWN, Md. - Sixth-ranked host Washington
College captured its first Centennial Conference Championship in 11
years as the Shoremen defeated visiting Franklin & Marshall,
14-6, in the conference's championship game this afternoon on
Kibler Field at Roy Kirby, Jr. Stadium. Senior goalie Ted DiSalvo
(Boca Raton, Fla./Spanish River) made a career-high 20 saves en
route to earning tournament Most Valuable Player honors for the
Shoremen, who improved to 15-1 and earned their 31st NCAA
Tournament bid with the victory.

F&M (13-5) scored the first two goals of the game as Billy
Kempner scored an extra-man goal off an assist from Chad Gamble
with 12:16 remaining in the first quarter and Will Ballantyne
scored off an assist from Jamie McCulloch with 4:50 left in the
quarter.

The Shoremen then ran off five unanswered goals. Sophomore
midfielder Sid Looney (Westhampton, N.Y./Westhampton) started the
run with a goal with 3:37 to play in the first. Junior attackman
Stephen Luck (Catonsville, Md./Boys' Latin) followed with a goal
off a feed from senior midfielder Kodie Englehart (Coronado,
Calif./Coronado) with 1:00 left in the opening period. Sophomore
midfielder David McBrien (Bel Air, Md./Calvert Hall) then scored
with 26 seconds left in the period to give Washington its first
lead of the game at 3-2.

Washington opened the second quarter with back-to-back goals by
senior attackman Jim Cusick (Fallston, Md./Calvert Hall), the first
off an assist from Englehart at 13:22 and the second on man-up
situation off an assist from senior midfielder Hunter Nowicki
(Baltimore, Md./Franklin) with 7:41 on the clock, giving Washington
a 5-2 lead. Michael Bossidy ended the run with a goal off a Philip
Gamble feed with 4:50 left in the half, but Cusick scored off an
assist from freshman long-stick midfielder Zachary Kelly (Kennett
Square, Pa./Salesianum School [Del.]) just 13 seconds later as the
Shoremen took a 6-3 lead into halftime.

Washington scored three times in the first 4:11 of the third
quarter to break the game open. Cusick started things off with a
goal with 12:44 on the clock. Nowicki then scored an unassisted
goal with 12:05 to play and a goal off an assist from Looney with
10:49 to go to give the Shoremen a six-goal cushion. The two teams
then traded goals the rest of the third quarter as Ben Ross scored
off an Evan Bakst assist at 7:23, Cusick scored off a Nowicki feed
at 6:36, Chad Gamble found Kempner for a goal at 4:28, and Looney
scored off a Cusick assist at 3:22.

Washington scored the first three goals of the fourth quarter to
build its biggest lead of the game. Cusick assisted on a goal by
senior attackman JD Campbell (Baltimore, Md./Mount St. Joseph) with
12:59 remaining, Looney found Nowicki for a goal with 6:48 left,
and Looney found the back of the net for an unassisted tally at
1:31. Bossidy scored for the Diplomats with 39 seconds to go to
provide the final margin.

DiSalvo allowed just five of F&M's goals as he subbed out
late in the contest. His 20 saves followed an eight-save,
one-goal-allowed performance against Gettysburg in the semifinals,
giving him 28 saves and a save percentage of 82% for the
tournament.

Cusick paced the Shoremen offense this afternoon, scoring five
goals and assisting on two others. Looney and Nowicki each finished
with three goals and two assists. Looney, who scored seven goals in
the Shoremen's semifinal win, finished with as many goals in the
conference tournament (10) as he did in the regular season.

Bossidy and Kempner led the Diplomats with two goals each.
Cameron Setian made 12 saves in the loss.

The 15 wins for the Shoremen this season are their most since
going 18-3 in 2004. This is the fourth Centennial Conference
Championship for the Shoremen, who won the title in 1996, 1997, and
2003.

Final selections and first-round pairings for the NCAA Division
III Tournament will be announced Sunday at 10 p.m. live on
NCAA.com.